The Kipkarren House: Where Did Colonel Griffiths' Home Stand?

By Hillary Kosgey Arap Masut

First shared in The Wonders of Sergoit Hills Facebook group on 15 February 2026.

The photograph before me is captioned “Home of Colonel George Cruickshank Griffiths.” It shows a solid settler farmhouse built of brick and timber, standing on a stone foundation against a gentle hillside. Two European figures pose in front of the house, and a motor vehicle from the 1930s rests nearby. The landscape suggests the cool highlands of the Rift Valley, most likely within the Uasin Gishu region.

Colonel George Cruickshank Griffiths was a prominent settler farmer and public figure in colonial Kenya. He was closely associated with agricultural development in the Rift Valley and owned a farm known as Aotea Roa in the Kipkarren area of Uasin Gishu. As a leading member of the farming community and a representative in colonial structures, his home would have stood on titled settler land, likely in a rural and elevated setting outside the main town.

The architectural style of the house, with its steep roof and timber shingle gable, is typical of early twentieth century settler homes built between 1915 and 1935 in the Uasin Gishu and Trans Nzoia highlands. The sloping terrain in the background further supports the likelihood that the house stood on farmland rather than within a town centre.

Yet the question lingers. Where exactly did the Kipkarren house stand? Has it survived the passage of time, hidden among modern farms and new developments, or has it disappeared entirely from the landscape?

First shared in The Wonders of Sergoit Hills Facebook group on 15 February 2026.

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